Letter: Seriously better language class

Re: “For Arabic classes, growing pains” (April 16): Though Yale’s Arabic program undoubtedly has room for improvement, especially in the realm of speaking skills, the overall change that has occurred in the past few years is a marked improvement. It only takes a few conversations with veterans of the pre-reform Arabic program — or rather the dropouts, who are just as numerous — to learn that the majority of students learning Arabic at Yale before the 2008-’09 academic year simply were not taught the language properly, spoken or written. If students in this year’s Arabic classes find themselves challenged or forced to share the best teachers with other students in the program, they should not be resentful but instead thankful that Arabic instruction at Yale is finally being taken seriously.